The present invention relates generally to headbands and more particularly to a headband designed especially for use by a person whose hair is arranged to form a ponytail.
Headbands are well-known in the art and have been designed for a plurality of different purposes. For example, headbands have often been designed for ornamental purposes. Examples of this type of headband include a hair wrap disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 347,311, a headband disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 316,774, a headband as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 343,282, a headband as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 277,330, and a headband having a self-adhesive portion as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 340,345.
Other known purposes for which headbands have been specifically designed include medical headbands, which aid in the treatment of head injuries, and headbands which absorb perspiration on a person's brow.
However, none of the headbands which are well-known in the art are designed specifically to accommodate use by a person having a ponytail. To serve their functionality, headbands are ideally worn around the user's brow in such a manner that the headband passes over the base of the ponytail of the person. The person is, accordingly, forced to move the headband either above the ponytail or below the ponytail. If the person moves the headband above the ponytail, the headband would no longer be on the brow of the person as desired and may become loose and eventually move up and off the head of the person. On the other hand, if the person moves the headband below the ponytail, the headband falls below the brow of the person and conceivably around the eyes of the user thereby impairing the line of vision of the person. As a consequence, people who have a ponytail are often precluded from wearing such headbands and are denied their utility or ornamentality.
Also well-known in the art are conventional baseball caps which include two elongated members attached to the body of the cap. The elongated members are connectable at various positions and serve the function of enabling a single hat to conform to a large variety of hat sizes. As a consequence of the structure of this type of cap, a small opening in the rear of the cap is created. However, this opening was not designed for a person having a ponytail to wear the cap, but rather as a necessary element in making a hat which can be adjusted to fit different size heads. It should be noted that as the elongated members are brought closer together and are subsequently attached thereby decreasing the cap size, the size of the opening decreases, possibly to the extent that a ponytail would no longer be able to pass through. An example of such a cap may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,535.